FR TDI or Cupra R Petrol

[Colonelk]

Hi all

My Peugeot 406 2.0 is dead and I need a new car. Frankly I'm fed up pootling around in the wifes Fiat Punto 1.2 L and I'm craving speed! I guess its my age (33)

I'm looking at a budget of around £10K not many months from now and am researching both the Cupra FR TDI (150BHP) and the Cupra R (210 or 225).

I'd like to keep running costs (read garage costs) to a sensible level and I'm looking at 10,000 to 12,000 miles per year as intended usage (I'l probably sell the Punto to raise some funds towards this, so the missus will have to drive it too )

Can I have some user opinions on both car's from a performance and running costs point of view please. I just don't know whether to sacrifice the pure speed for a little more frugality and get the diesel or not !

Thanks

CK

 

[paul26982]

diesel with map. all the way,

 

[Sisson]

^^^ i 100% agree

A remapped diesel will map to 200hp and 300lb/ft torque
Will still get 55mpg
Cheaper tax
Cheaper Ins
Slightly higher service costs i.e £10 a year

An awesome car

 

[NeilW]

"and I'm craving speed!"

LCR all the way!

Remapped LCR even better!

 

[Sisson]

"and I'm craving speed!"

A remapped pd150 isnt exactly slow tho is it?

 

[kennyrodgers84]

economy-soot chucker power- lcr :L

 

[cordobabrendy]

safety wise the lcr has better brakes which will probably be a bigger saviour for your missus rather than you, the lcr is a little bumpier over rough surfaces due to lower profile tyres and stiffer suspenders. lcr and tdi are pretty much the same price. either way you will remap them, 200 bhp or 265bhp, your choice.

 

[NeilW]

A remapped pd150 isnt exactly slow tho is it?

I agree. But as an LCR owner I am highly biased!

 

[paul26982]

^^^ i 100% agree

A remapped diesel will map to 200hp and 300lb/ft torque
Will still get 55mpg
Cheaper tax
Cheaper Ins
Slightly higher service costs i.e £10 a year

An awesome car

 

[schnipps]

10k miles a year id get the R. Over 15k a year perhaps the FR, however when you remap them if you choose to go that route its likely you will need a new clutch aswell, alot of people's mapped cars have clutch problems especially diesels.

 

[slick]

This is going to be a 50/50 arguement between owners, unfortunately what ever you say in one car favour the other will have one too...

I mean end of the day, both are excellent cars and both have great modding potential.

The LCR has the power, mappable to 265-275bhp, the high rev engine, high insurance, very low MPG, interior in black with recaros, aggressive looks, big brakes and suspension and many more things..

The FR TDi 150PD, has loads of torque in mid range map can chase a standard LCR between 40-70mph, easily modded with a remap to 190-200bhp, high MPG, can look aggressive FR+ came with Cupra R fronts and rear bumpers, low insurance, softer suspension and many more things.....

As i said all down to the want-to-be-owner tastes... alot of LCR owners rant about the power, but send your FR to Allards and with a few grand you could pull 265ish bhp and so much torque you hurt your neck putting your foot down...
then the TDi guys will rant about MPG and torque, but the LCR although wont bring in high mpg, if driven well brings in pretty good MPG for a fast petrol car and torque well as long as your in the right cog it does have alot of it.....

Horses for courses but you picked a great base car a Leon, so you cant really go wrong...

personally thou I'd go FR, but I'm biased... plus the missus likes the diesel instead of the LCR, she cant stall the diesel and doesnt have every boy racer on the roads trying to race her everytime she pulls up to the lights, even thou the diesel is very fast now... lol

 

[UncleFester]

You can uprate the brakes on a Fr Tdi by simply fitting 312mm caliper carriers and buying 312mm discs - pretty cheap upgrade although no comparison to the brembos of the LCR it's still pretty good.

I've had the Cupra Tdi for a while now and whilst i do still miss petrol, there's no way i'd swap my diesel for one full time. Average 35mpg round town, 47 on motorways and at 80 mph it's sat at just over 2krpm in 6th gear - this is without a doubt the most relaxing motorway cruiser i've driven.

Test drive them both and see what you think, the Tdi feels like it's powered by a massive elastic band

You could of course buy a 130Tdi for £5k and spend the £5k left on some serious engine goodies ...... always worth asking around and seeing what people have done / can do and for what price.

Long and short you'll love either one but maybe for different reasons.

 

[Big_daddy]

well if you guna spend around 10k, for a car asume it comes with warranty and so. If you start tampering with car, the warranty could be avoided. if some thing goes wrong. its not covered by seat. such remap

 

[InfernalBadger]

I bought an TDI FR+ because I'm only 23 and do around 20k miles a year. So it saves me a lot of money.

Being 33 and only doing around 12k miles i'd recommend you get the Cupra R tbh. I would if I were in your shoes

 

[Snoopcousins]

LCR or FR TDI? Nice choice to have..!
Dont want to enter the argument of which to go for but I can give you my opinion of my Leon FR TDI (remapped);

I thought it was quite fast standard but since the remap it is definately a notable bit faster. My map is very progressive so no sudden peak of torque etc but just a constant smooth pull through the revs and 60-1** seems to take no time at all.....

Im sure Brendy can agree it compares favourably against his petrol variant...

I do 10k-12k miles/year and im getting 600 miles for £55 so you are looking at around £90-£100 per month for 12k miles/year

If you can find an FR+, you will have the looks (Apart from larger wheels and brembos) and a very quick diesel with a large slice of Torque.

Drive them both and see which you prefer is only way to decide, but IMO both very good cars and you cant go wrong!

 

[ChrisUK]

Remapped FR + clutch (around 1000 extra!!!)

I'd leave the FR & buy an Evo

 

[InfernalBadger]

Im sure you can fit an uprated friction plate (rather than a whole clutch) before destroying the original clutch

 

[Reg]

Drive both and see which you both prefer. LCR is never going to be a particularly cheap car to run, but you are not doing many miles so maybe thats not such a problem. Tuning aside (because not everyone wants to piss about with every car they own), the petrol and diesel engines have quite different characters, and the chassis's are fairly different too. Once you have driven both maybe it will be clear.

Personally, I'd have the LCR (and I'm going to have done 18k this year - its still a lot cheaper to run than my old M3!).

 

[rashcupra]

Leon fr if you want to go 4the cheaper option but still fast, or if your not bothered bout money blatently get the leon cupraR remapped! bout 265bhp!!!! what a car.

All depends on what you want out of dollar?

 

[skullmunki]

for starters, hi to everyone, been lurking around here for a bit, but feel i had to reply as i'm in the same boat as the OP.

Due to just getting married and having to do the house up, changing my 1.6 Polo has been a pipe dream for a while (had it nearly 7 years!).

I've had my heart set on a Leon for about the last 3 years, but never been able to afford it. Cant make my mind up between the FR or the LCR! Only do relatively low mileage (7-8k p/a).

One half of me says f**k it get the LCR, just love the looks and the power to hand is self evident! The other half is being "slightly" more sensible and saying get the FR.

Im also 33, so insurance isnt too bad (the LCR is about £100 more), but because I only really do shortish trips, kinda worried that the LCR would drink like a fish.

I can fully empathise will colonelks dilemma (although its a nice one!).

One other thing, ive noticed some diesels (04/05 plates) have the LCR front, whilst on others it doesnt look quite as aggressive, is this a difference in models? or a facelift? its been bugging me for a while!